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Topic: Please help - what is this? (Read 17738 times)

Hello all,The second year in row I have discovered a fungus in my soil. It is not mycorrhizae. It is yellow, hairy with little (very hard) grains. I have attached a picture. All my pines and other bonsais were effected last year and had been repotted. I did not use a fungicide etc. It is late spring here in South Africa and it seems to come back (accompanied by a pungent mushroom smell). The trees get full day sun and pots can get very warm at times. The trees are not the strongest but seem ok. All of them are planted in a pumice/seramis//grit/bark mixture. Should I use a systemic fungicide? And if yes which one without retarding the little mycorrhizae I have....?I have shown some of this stuff to a local nursery but they can't help!

Hi Sorce,i was under the impression that pine bark encourage myccorizia - that is why I mixed it in. The only mediums available her in SA is grit, bark and soil. The pumice I had was a once off purchase.There is no more thn 30% soil in the mix. Perhaps the pumice and seramis hold too mush water? The mix is otherwise free draining.A local bonsai person told me to put an extra layer of soil on top during summer to avoid high temperatures in the pot...

How often do you clean the top of your soil? If you rake the top with angled tweezers you can remove a lot of gunk, pests, weeds, etc.

Hello John,Thank you for your reply.The surface is free of any weed, bugs etc. All trees had been repotted 4 months ago. I did put an extra layer of grit on top to avoid the temperature becoming too hot in the pot. We are already we'll in the 30's and summer are easily in the 40's here.

All my pines and other bonsais were effected last year and had been repotted.

When you say all your bonsai were affected - In what way? Was it only the soil that got the fungus or did your trees suffer (leaf loss , dying etc)

My thoughts is that if it was only the soil affected, then I would not worry to much about it except maybe just scratch it out until you have a clearer understanding?[/quote]Hi Dorian,no leafloss nor dying, just yellowish fungus throughout the soil/pot with very hard grains. The grains are solid and stay behind when the soil/fungus has dried out/up. There is also a noticeable mushroom smell ( I guess the spores) when turning the soil. Thanks for you reply.